SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Holdings Raised by Comerica Bank

Comerica Bank boosted its stake in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,356 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 9,554 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned 0.10% of SM Energy worth $4,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gallo Partners LP bought a new position in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $930,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,184,000. LSP Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in SM Energy by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. LSP Investment Advisors LLC now owns 304,191 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $11,790,000 after purchasing an additional 105,945 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,449,483 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $56,182,000 after purchasing an additional 140,228 shares during the period. Finally, Oxford Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth $514,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM stock opened at $20.98 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.76. The company has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $19.67 and a 1-year high of $51.94.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.62 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 50.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at $474,591.76. This represents a 91.31 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

About SM Energy

SM Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids in the state of Texas. It has working interests in oil and gas producing wells in the Midland Basin and South Texas. The company was formerly known as St.